Designed to protect key retinal cells, company’s Fas inhibitor drugs aim to prevent vision loss in a range of conditions.
With the world buzzing about Neuralink’s latest project to restore sight to the blind, others take the view that prevention is better than cure. To that end, US biopharma ONL Therapeutics has completed an oversubscribed $65 million Series D financing round to advance the clinical development of its novel therapeutics aimed at protecting retinal cells.
ONL’s approach is focused on inhibiting Fas-mediated cell death, a critical mechanism in many ophthalmic diseases. Fas signaling plays a dual role in activating cell death and regulating immune responses, which can further damage retinal cells.
The company’s lead compound, ONL1204, is a first-in-class small molecule Fas inhibitor, designed to protect key retinal cells, including photoreceptors, from Fas-induced cell death, a primary cause of vision loss in a range of conditions. By targeting Fas signaling, ONL aims to address both the direct and inflammatory pathways leading to cell death, potentially offering a broad therapeutic benefit across a range of retinal diseases.
The funding will be used to initiate a global Phase 2 study in patients suffering from geographic atrophy (GA) linked to dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Dry AMD is characterized by the gradual loss of retinal cells in the macula, eventually leading to irreversible vision loss in its advanced GA stage.
In a Phase 1b clinical trial for patients with GA associated with dry AMD, ONL1204 demonstrated promising results. ONL says that patients treated with the drug showed a reduction in the growth rate of GA lesions compared with those who received a sham treatment. The trial observed this effect with both single and double injections administered over a 90-day period.
The financing round was led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation and supported by a consortium of investors that includes Bios Partners, Novartis Venture Fund and Visionary Ventures, among others. The company’s partnership with Johnson & Johnson’s Specialty Ophthalmology R&D team is expected to contribute further to the clinical development of ONL1204.
“This new round of funding builds on the University of Michigan’s support of ground-breaking biomedical research that will enable us to further advance our unique and differentiated clinical program in GA, a disease that is responsible for nearly one in five cases of blindness caused by macular degeneration,” said Dr David Zacks, co-founder and chief scientific officer of ONL. “With the unique MOA of ONL1204 addressing neuroprotection and our compelling Phase 1 clinical data, we are excited for the potential to bring a new innovation to GA patients around the world.”
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